What do you look for in a band???

M

Metallica5

New member
Hi, I'm in a band and we have started playing a few shows. When we play the music is fine, and it sounds pretty good, but what else is there to do to make it entertaining? Being only 15 years old, we don't have money to get tons of lights and we don't have huge places to play so we are just looking for suggestions of what we can do to make our show better. What bands seem to stick out the most to you when you go to clubs, and what is it that makes them more alive onstage? thanks
 
Get yourself a very beautiful young chick lead singer. Stick her out front in a revealing outfit. Your band will be successful. Good luck.
 
Buffalo Bob has certainly hit on one of the keys to success.

I've had numerous discussions (most sober - some drunken) with club owners, agents and managers regarding "What sells a band"?

I won't get into the whole "original sound/original image" issue. - but on a practical basis here is what owners, agents, and managers want from a "working band".

1. Image. Certainly a good looking front person who has charisma and a good rapport with the crowd (yes a chick singer falls into this catagory) is a big plus. The band should always look good on stage - I always like to see someone from the band walk through the crowd and you can "see" they are the entertainment - by thier "outfit".

2. Good vocals. Not just a good singer but more than one singer helps break up the sets - and what really, really makes a band shine if great harmonies.

3. Professionalism. Being on time and prepared. All the gear works (not fancy gear - just working gear). Not getting drunk/high before or during the gig (if you choose to do it after the gig - do it away from the club/crowd). Also add into this catagory - be nice human beings. People who are friendly, cooperative and easy to work with get hired back - people who act like assholes don't!!!

4. The right kind of music for the venue/region. This is always a hard one. Everyone has their favorite music - but a metal band ain't gonna go over well in a country bar, etc. Club owners want what they think thier customers want and agents want what they can sell to club owners. Now maybe a manager is willing to represent a band he/she personally likes or beleives in - but club owners and agents a simply pushing product.

Metalicca5 - I know you were asking more about a "stage show" but all of these things go into having a good show. I persnally look for tight musical arrangements, good vocals (including harmonies) and rappport with the audiance - if the band is good and looks like they are haveing fun - the crowd will enjoy it.

Good luck - you've got many years of gigs ahead of you.
 
Basically what MikeH said.

Im in the EXACT same postion as you (just a year younger).

You've got to have ALOT of energy. Play like your by yourself standing in front of a mirror in your room, pretend that nobodys watching.

The frontman needs to be able to carry the crowd inbetween songs he also needs to be the one w/ the most energy as most eyes are on him.
 
Thanks guys, but im the singer and rhythm guitarist, so there really isnt to much I can do being really energetic besides smilying, moving around alittle, and putting alot into vocals. Anyone have any ideas?
 
"What bands seem to stick out the most to you when you go to clubs, and what is it that makes them more alive onstage?"

Probably the tightest working bands you will ever see are the top level cover bands that play at resorts or tourist traps. They are seasoned pros who can play anything from The Wedding March to Brubek (AND make it sound "just like the record") This is a very under-rated aspect of the business, but there's big money in it. Agents and club owners love great cover bands.
You will also find that an alarming number of them have a beautiful chick singer in a revealing outfit. You want the truth?
YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!!:D
The truth is that today, sex sells. You can have the tightest band in the country, great songs, arrangements, musicianship - but if you are not visually appealing, you will just be another good band.
Want an example? How about Gwen Stefani? Anyone really think she's a great singer? No, but when she's onstage, you can't take your eyes off her. She's enticing, interesting, SEXY.
I realize that at 15 you're very young, but you will find that this business is populated by some great people, and some sleazy, rip-off, criminal types who would be stealing cars if they weren't in music. MikeH mentioned drugs and alcohol. They will ruin your band faster than anything else.
The other advantage to a chick singer is that one of the guys in the band has a built-in girlfriend who won't bug him about gear purchases! :cool:

Bob
 
As a fan - the music


As a business - the market-ability



As the rest of the members had pointed out...... a hot female is always a plus
 
Whee my first post!

You asked, what can you do to be more energetic since you're the vocalist / rythm guitar... well simple...

The average person's eyes follow the singer. To the average human ear, they don't know how to decipher the "music" so they listen and watch. Do tricks while playing your guitar, the fans love that. If your music is top of the line to your ear, spice it up visually. Granted, I understandt he lack of money but to play with the guitar perpindicular to the ground is free, last time I checked!
 
digia said:
The average person's eyes follow the singer. To the average human ear, they don't know how to decipher the "music" so they listen and watch. Do tricks while playing your guitar, the fans love that. If your music is top of the line to your ear, spice it up visually. Granted, I understandt he lack of money but to play with the guitar perpindicular to the ground is free, last time I checked!
Click to expand...

I pictured the guitarist from Green Day pretending what he was playing required 130 degree rotation of his arm when he played :D

He's right, if you play it like it is (usually simple to watch), then it bores, but if you play like it requires a little effort, it "looks" better...

... and a bikini babe hanging all over you during the gig :p

Get attractive groupies!! Ugly and old followers of your band will drive away the younger crowd, the younger and "cuter" your audience, the more young/cute people you will draw... bars sell sex in a bottle, no one's having sex with uncle fred with his stained wife-beater tee and beer gut :p This comes back to being professional, friendly, and curteous ;)... you will draw these people without any effort and drive away the weirdos if you have these three things (hell, you don't even have to sound good in some cases).
 
A simple trick

heres something you can do that i find works good no matter what you play....

At your next show have someone who you trust to be competent videotape you then a day or two after the show sit down with your band and watch it start to finish you will then see yourself as people see you. Take note of what you do on stage what looks good and what doesnt and then work from there
 
Oh, I forgot to mention, ASK YOUR FANS!!!

Surely if you've been gigging you have followers, talk to them. Ask them what they think would make the experience better. The music just opens the door, it's the experience that matters!

Cheers
 
I'll throw in a few specific things . . working mostly with rock and hardcore, "stage presence" needs to be taken seriously by everyone and that includes

1. dressing to fit the style. Ever see a hardcore band where the singer guitarist and bassest were all in black with spikes and the drummer was wearing a t-shit and bassball cap? I have :) It looks goofy

2. Face the audience. Another hardcore band thought it would be cool to play an entire show with their back to the audience. . . It was really boring. usually it's accidental... You plactice in a circle so you get used to seeing each others hands so when you get set up in a line on stage the guitarist and bassest almost always turn to face each other. Always try to have your fretboard face the audience.

3. don't wander around the stage. Moving is good but each player should have their own space. Sometimes cheezy corieography works well. My old band uaually ended a very metal song "Shiver" ( http://www.mp3.com/battlesound - demo recording 2 weeks of rehersal) with a perfect photo opertunity where everyone would come into the center except the bassest and kneel infront of me (the drummer) facing the audience and then the bassest would slide across the stage on his knees and form a diamond shaped protrait for a photographer who always came to our shows. Anyway don't just walk across the stage over to the bassest for no reason because you are more likely to distract the audience. . .it's also and easy way to tangle cords , unplug something, or break something.

4. if you have combo amps set them on a stand off the floor it help increase the stage volume without messing up the room mix too much.

5. have two guitars for when strings break

6. have a lot of variety in merchandise. Don't just have CD's have stickers, and patches, and shirts, and fliers for your next shows.

7. always act like you're playing the music right even if you arn't. I've learned that people will like some really awful stuff. . .and I mean wrong notes, tempo problems, and horrible tone. In other words don't let your mistakes show.

8. Have someone recognisable (ie the singer) go to the merchtable as soon as the set is over.

9. say "we have CD's" and etc "... for sale in the back of the room." (and point)

10. have an intro song and an outro song if necessary, have another song for an encore. . .and always try to push in the encore . . .in less the audience hates you.

11. Say your bands name and website.

12. have a real domain name or a thirdlevel domain name (ie bla.cjb.net) and don't have it point at geocities. . . broadband is more common now and it isn't unreasonable to have roadrunner or DSL. (I have DSL but prefer roadrunner) so get a pentium 200 and build your own webserver with linux . . .it's horribly easyand a heck of a lot cheaper than getting an IPP. . .and no popups or banners.

13 don't have a flash based website. . it takes forever to load and it cuts out most non northamerican visitors as thay can't be automatically translated and many of then still "pay by the hour". it's just slow. . .

14 buy good equipment. . . if it costs $100 and does 100 things don't get it.

15 set up an email newsletter and tell people to put their addresses on it.

16 be reasonably train on your instrument. . . ie take lessons from a "real" teacher not some guy at the store and practice instead of screwing around for a few hours.



. . .thats all I can think of for now


peace
sam
zekthedeadcow@hotmail.com
http://www.Track100.com
 
zekthedeadcow said:
12. have a real domain name or a thirdlevel domain name (ie bla.cjb.net) and don't have it point at geocities. . . broadband is more common now and it isn't unreasonable to have roadrunner or DSL. (I have DSL but prefer roadrunner) so get a pentium 200 and build your own webserver with linux . . .it's horribly easyand a heck of a lot cheaper than getting an IPP. . .and no popups or banners.
Click to expand...

So how much does it cost?

And is it actually possible to do something like this for *free*

e.g. Is there an alternative 2 GeoCities?

I've got the URL redirection, but what about hosts?
 
if you have a broadband intenet access like roadrunner or DSL already the cost is minimal.

roadrunner is on average, the service runs $44.95 per month. This fee is in addition to the regular monthly timewarner cable subscription.

alot of people already have it and I'll just assume you do.

Then you need a computer that is on all the time. . .you can still use it for anything just don't shut it off for extended periods of time :) Needs to be a 486 or better (good luck finding anything worse)

then install either linux or windows (preferably linux it's free and generally more secure) http://www.slackware.com .

linux comes with the apache webserver and sendmail email server so not additional software is needed.

for windows I used the Xitami http://www.xitami.com/ and it's a free download too. It also looks like apache is available for windows too http://www.apache.org

http://www.glassdog.com/design-o-rama/index.shtml is a great html "how to"

ok. . now with the technical stuff. You have broadband, a computer, and a webpage. now get your IP address.

In widows I think it's "winipconfig" or ipconfig

in linux you have to be loged in as root and its "ifconfig eth0" <---thats a zero

you get a number that looks like 123.234.213.9

on a redirect url service like cjb.net you would just type in http://123.234.213.9 or whatever to point it at your computer

then you just have to update it every time your IP address changes (my experience with roadrunner is about once every 2 months)
 
Right...

So I just need 2 download Xitami, make my web pages and type my IP into my URL redirection (I'm using Dot Tk if any1's interested U basically get "whateva.tk")

Right?
 
in short . . . yep


there are a few things that could arise. mainly your service provider might block port 80 and 8080 (the http port) and if that is the case the webserver will need to have the preferences changed so it listens on a different port and then you would type it in the URL redirect as 123.234.213.9 :3000 (sometimes without the : ) but usually you don't have to worry about it. and having an oddly numbered http port will make you look like a kiddieporn site to port surfers and webcrawlers and spiders won't find the site so it's more difficult to get listed on some search engines
 
Back to earth Metallica5...

Abyyss said:
Well I'll have a try + see how it goes.......
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Like Mikeh said, there is alot to being a successful band. As a former touring artist, and now session artist, I can tell you your most importatn priority is to make kick ass music first! You need to have your own distinct sound, your own signature. Don't go out and try to be another greenday or whatever. Most of us started doing covers. Then interjecting our own stuff. You could put a playboy centerfold chick up there, but if she can't sing if she isn't hooking up musically with you (entering the bubble), then it is all for naut. We all have seen great looking bands that really suck and never get anywhere. What really feels good, usually looks good. That's when you have 'fun' and the tricks and antics just come out. You can experiment with 'windmill' strokes etc., Hell, light the thing on fire (been done though)... just don't trash your gear at the end of the gig until you have serious jack saved up :-)

But seriously, work on the music first, if you want to add a girl, get one that hooks up musically first. One of the other guys was right about awesome vocals. Tight harmonies. It's hard and therefore sets you aside. You don't have to sing barbershop to have tight harmonies. And you don't have to sing every song in parts either. Just throw it out there in some of your material and it will payoff. A very effective intro is an accapella one. Then blast into your best song for instince. Anyway, after the sound tightens up, you have your confidence, you will have fun with it, then get a coach and work on your stage presence. If you can't afford a coach, ask someone in your high school that understands staging, or blocking, preferably aomeone musical like a drama teacher or whatever for some basics. Video yourself and watch them much like you would a your own golf stroke or football game. Look for 'fun'. Audiences respond to your having fun!! I promise you, you'll pass all the other bands your age like a shot and begin to draw the audience you want. You will have plenty of opportunity to market yourself, and believe me, there will be hoards of people lined up to market you for a price. But first thing first! Remember, above all it starts with the music!
 
That's what I keep tellin' myself, but it's so easy to get strayed by all the kick-ass sites, etc. that are out there supporting bands.
 
thanks for the help guys. We would never have a girl in our band. To many problems would accur plus that just isn't our type of music. We have a website that isn't completly done yet, but it has some stuff: www21.brinkster.com/sightunseen
 
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